Monotype 0.2 inch Auto Drill Mill

Monotype 0.2 inch auto depth and length mill, Plant No. 2293, made by the Monotype Corporation Ltd, Salfords, Redhill, Surrey, 1960. Matrix twin spindle, auto depth and length, rough milling machine, incomplete. This machine is part of the equipment used in the production system for 0.2 inch (0.51cm) Monotype composition matrices. It would have been integral with a bench, incorporating electrical and compressed air services.

Object 1995-1576 is Plant No.2294 and is a complete version of the same machine.

There were 82 separate processes needed to transform a designer’s drawing of a letter, figure, punctuation or symbol into a piece of Monotype metal type for printing. A pantograph was used to trace and cut the letter from a copper pattern into a piece of steel called a punch. After being hardened, the punch was driven into a piece of bronze using a crank press to produce a matrix. The finished matrix was ready to go to the Monotype Composition Caster where molten metal was pumped through a mould against the matrix to produce a piece of type.